INTRO.- ILL.- WIFE: "There’s trouble with the car. It has water in the carburetor."
HUSBAND: "Water in the carburetor? That’s ridiculous."
WIFE: "I tell you the car has water in the carburetor."
HUSBAND: "You don’t even know what a carburetor is. I’ll check it out. Where’s the car?"
WIFE: "In the swimming pool."
ILL.- When Joe’s wife ran away he got so depressed that his doctor sent him to see a psychiatrist. Joe told the psychiatrist his troubles and said, "Life isn’t worth living."
"Don’t be stupid, Joe," said the psychiatrist. "Let work be your salvation. I want you to totally immerse yourself in your work. Now, what do you do for a living?" "I clean out septic tanks." Joe replied.
Job 14:1 “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”
Life sure seems to be full of trouble, does it not? If it isn’t one thing, it’s something else or someone else causing us trouble. And it applies to everybody. No one is immune.
ILL.- I know of two different preachers in Oklahoma and both are having trouble with at least one leader in their church. One of these preachers is a young man about 30 years old, maybe less. The other preacher is tried and proven in his upper 50’s. He’s been in the church for years, been around the block and is completely committed to Christ. The older preacher hasn’t been in a his church a year and said, “I came to preach not to fight with an elder.” What a shame for both of them!
And there is, of course, even bigger trouble for millions of people. Hurricane Katrina and now Rita. We have heard the stories and/or seen the pictures by the hundreds, it seems. Most are very disheartening.
ILL.- And did you hear the one about the woman who begged her husband to take her somewhere expensive for a change? He drove her to the corner gas station.
The rising price of gasoline. We wonder where it will end or if it will end. Of course, we think we have it bad in Arkansas but I have a preacher friend in East LA who said gas last Monday morning was $3.50 a gallon. And we know that this doesn’t just affect us personally. Rising gas prices affect the whole American economy!
What else? What next? How much more can people take? Where can we get some help?
ILL.- I am reminded of the story about the sophomore student at Yale University who said to the chaplain, “Sir, you must admit that religion is just a crutch?” The chaplain replied, “You are right, but who isn’t limping?” Everybody limps in life because of something and everybody has a crutch. We happen to believe that the Lord is the best crutch there is!
The Psalmist, David, knew about how tough life could get.
PROP.- Ps. 86:1-4 gives us some help from above for life’s troubles. 1- Hear my prayer 2- Guard my life 3-Forgive my sin 4- Increase my joy
I. HEAR MY PRAYER
Ps. 86:1 “Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.”
ILL.- A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left her work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication for her daughter.
When returning to her car she found that she had locked her keys in the car. She was in a hurry to get home to her sick daughter.
She didn’t know what to do, so she called her home and told the baby sitter what had happened and that she did not know what to do. The baby sitter told her that her daughter was getting worse. She said, "You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door."
The woman looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been thrown down on the ground, possibly by someone else who at some time or other had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, "I don’t know how to use this." So she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help.
Within five minutes an old rusty car pulled up, with a dirty, greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker skull rag on his head. The woman thought, "This is what you sent to help me?" But, she was desperate, so she was also very thankful.
The man got out of his car and asked her if he could help. She said, "Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?"
He said, "Sure." He walked over to the car, and in less than one minute the car was opened. She hugged the man and through her tears she said, "Thank you so much! You are a very nice man."
The man replied, "Lady, I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison today. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out for about an hour."
The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, "Oh. Thank you God! You even sent me a Professional."
You just never know how God is going to answer your prayer. I always heard it said that God answers prayer in four ways: Yes, no, maybe, and you got to be kidding.
Seriously, our God is a god who hears and answers prayers. Sometimes He may answer them through people and even not-so-nice people. God can use anybody if He so desires.
Matthew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
If we parents are pretty good at giving to our kids, how much better at giving is our heavenly Father.
When you’re in a tight spot, why not try asking God for help. Better yet, why not talk to Him every day and get acquainted, and perhaps He’ll be even quicker to answer your prayers. We’re all poor and needy. We’re spiritually poor and needy. This is why we need our heavenly Father and this is why we need to seek Him daily, talk to Him and ask of Him.
II. GUARD MY LIFE
Ps. 86:2 “Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you.”
ILL.- Here is what is called USEFUL EXPRESSION FOR HIGH STRESS DAYS.
- "When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you."
- "Well, this day was a total waste of makeup."
- "Do they ever shut up on your planet?"
- "I can’t remember if I’m the good twin or the evil one."
- "I hate everybody. And you’re next."
- "Don’t treat me any differently than you would the Queen."
- "I just want revenge. Is that so wrong?"
- "I’m not tense, just terribly, terribly alert."
- "I’m trying to imagine you WITH a personality."
- "Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed."
- "How many times do I have to flush before you go away?"
- "Is it time for your medication or mine?"
- "And your crybaby whiny-baby opinion would be...?"
- “Guys have feelings too. But like, who cares?"
- "Do NOT start with me. You will NOT win."
- "You have the right to remain silent, so please SHUT UP."
- "Warning: I have an attitude and I know how to use it."
- "I’m one of those bad things that happen to good people."
- "How can I miss you if you won’t go away?"
- "Don’t upset me! I’m running out of places to hide the bodies."
Brothers and sisters, the truth is we all deal with stress in some form or another.
ILL.- Remember that one preacher I told you about who said he came to preach and not to fight with an elder. Here is a letter I received from him last Tuesday. Talk about stress. Listen.
Hi, Steve. I went back to the church and saw the elder that is causing dissention. He lit into me over my shooting dirty glances at him while I preach. (??) Then, he said I might cause a church split. (??) I finally just walked away without arguing with him, but when I got home I called the rest of the elders and the associate pastor and called an elders meeting tonight immediately after our revival service.
1) don’t ever just light into me without knowing what you are doing, and
2) don’t ever come to me with the threat of a church split.
Tonight, enough is enough. One way or the other. Please pray that everything I say and do is totally God-centered, including my tone of voice, my posture and my words. Pray that my heart is Christ-centered in love, not Bruce-centered and angry. But also pray that God will take the problem away (whether him or me) so this church can get on with the business of Christ. Thank you.
We all deal with a certain amount of stress in life and some of that stress or maybe a lot of it comes in the form of people.
We all need help in life. We need some divine guidance, guarding and protection. David prayed, “Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. Save your servant who trusts in you.” The more devoted we are to the Lord and the more we serve Him and trust Him, the more we can expect Him to guard and protect us from evil and the stress of this life. God is compassionate and gracious. Trust Him. Lean on Him. He’ll take care of you.
III. FORGIVE MY SIN
Ps. 86:3 “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.” When David prayed for God to have mercy on him, he was essentially asking for forgiveness of his sins.
ILL.- The preacher challenged his people with these words. “How many of you folks would be willing to be really honest and admit you love sin?” “I will,” said one man.
Raising his voice in surprise, the preacher said, “Do you mean to tell me that you’re admitting in front of all these people that you love sin?” The man replied, “Oh no, I thought you said GIN.”
Whether we would admit it or not, we all do sin and sometimes we may even love it! It just depends on the sin, I suppose.
ILL.- A prison chaplain writes of a study in which he talked with twelve inmates in the penitentiary. He asked each “Why are you here?” The answers were instructive: “I was framed.” “They ganged up on me.” “It was a case of mistaken identity.” “The police had it in for me.” Not one said he was guilty of something. They were all innocent.
An insurance adjuster said that he would estimate 90 percent of the people involved in automobile accidents see themselves as blameless.
Brothers and sisters, we all deal with wrongdoing or sin in our lives. We all do wrong at times. We all sin. Romans 3:23.
The problem is this. What do we do with our sin once we recognize it and are convicted by it? Of course, it seems like some people are never convicted about anything they ever do.
Guilt is not such a bad thing if it leads us to do something right.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS POSSIBLY THE GREATEST PRAYER IN THE BIBLE? It’s found in Luke 18:9-14. It starts like this: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on every body else, Jesus told this parable…” You remember! The self-righteous, church-going Pharisees prayed about himself. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men…” But the poor, needy, broken tax collector could not even look toward heaven. He beat his chest and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” That is what we need to do and what we need to pray.
IV. INCREASE MY JOY
Ps. 86:4 “Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Or in computer terms, “update my joy.” My joy isn’t too bad but it needs to be updated, increased, enlarged, built up, or enhanced.
ILL.- A millionaire was asked how he got rich. “Well,” he said, “I began by buying peanuts for five cents and selling them for ten cents. I worked long hours and all holidays. However, I didn’t become a millionaire for another five years.” “What happened?” “Well, that’s when my father died and left me a chain of hotels.”
Most people equate happiness with material goods and money, but this is not necessarily true.
ILL.- Someone wrote these interesting words about happiness. “Happiness is a way of life. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time...and remember that time waits for no one.
“So, stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”
ILL.- Someone else put it this way: The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
Acts 13:52 “The disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”
Gal. 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience…”
Phil. 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always…”
True joy comes from a relationship with the Lord who created us. He alone produces joy in us. And He can update or increase our joy if we continue to trust Him and follow Him.
CONCLUSION---------------------------------
ILL.- I am sure that all of you heard about or saw on TV the JetBlue flight 292 plane landing story on Wednesday, Sept. 21st in LA. The airliner circled Southern California for 3 hours, crippled by a faulty landing gear, while inside its cabin 140 passengers watched their own life-and-death drama unfolding on live television.
While satellite TV sets aboard JetBlue Flight 292 were tuned to news broadcasts, some passengers cried. Others tried to telephone relatives and one woman sent a text message to her mother in Florida attempting to comfort her in the event she died.
“It was very weird. It would’ve been so much calmer without the televisions,” Pia Varma of Los Angeles said after the plane skidded to a safe landing Wednesday evening in a stream of sparks and burning tires. No one was hurt. One passenger said, “It was a really smooth landing actually, probably the smoothest I’ve ever had, which is amazing.”
Brothers and sisters, what a pilot they had! I’m sure that 140 people were singing his praise when they touched down!
We also have a life-saving pilot in Jesus! He has promised to pilot us safely through life and land us safely on that heavenly runway.
Brothers and sisters, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding or wisdom. In all your ways (in all of life) acknowledge Him, look to Him and He will pilot you safely through life.
